1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer software and, more particularly, to a graphical user interface for establishing Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connectivity on a zSeries (R) computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A zSeries (R) computer is a product line of large computer servers or mainframes based on the z/Architecture (TM) provided by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) of Armonk, N.Y. ZSeries computers can utilize a derivative of the Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) operating system, which is a robust mainframe operating system utilized by many generations of IBM (R) mainframe computers. Derivatives of the MVS (TM) operating system can include the OS/390 (R) operating system and z/OS (R). Each of these operating systems support message conveyance through Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
In order to exchange messages using TCP/IP, however, a zSeries computer must be properly configured for TCP/IP messaging. Configuring the zSeries computer involves setting parameters of designated configuration files to appropriate settings. Traditionally, manipulations of TCP/IP configuration files has been a manual process requiring system administrators to open a configuration file, edit one or more parameters, and subsequently save the modified configuration file. Manually manipulating TCP/IP configuration files, however, can be a challenging experience for unwary administrators, as many seemingly reasonable configuration settings are mutually exclusive of one another. Therefore, the manual manipulation of configuration files on zSeries computers can often result in the creation of configuration errors. Although zSeries computers have been extensively utilized for more than a decade, no graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have been developed to facilitate configuring zSeries computers for TCP/IP messaging.